The Communications Division of the Sheriff’s Office is a consolidated Center in Coquille that provides 911 service for more than half of the Citizens of Coos County, and also provides radio dispatch support for the Sheriff’s Office, all police, fire and medical response in Coquille, Myrtle Point and Powers, and support to the police and fire departments in Bandon.

Ten Communications Specialists and two Supervisors staff the center twenty four hours a day, seven days per week. At least two fully trained employees are on duty at all times, and a third person will be scheduled during busier times. In 2000, our staff handled 35,535 ‘activities’ (meaning requests for ambulance or fire, calls for law enforcement service, and traffic stops or other self initiated activities by our user agencies). 6,863 of those activities were received through the 911 system.

Supervisor Ann Pierce is seen at a communication consul.

Our agency has been a 911 public safety answering point (PSAP) since the fall of 1984, when basic 911 service was made available to Coos County Citizens. In the last year, that has been upgraded to Enhanced 911 (E911) service for all residents. The "Enhanced" system means that when you call 911, the address and phone number from which you are calling will be displayed on our telephone monitoring screen. While we still need to verify that the information transmitted is correct, it has been of tremendous benefit when the caller is interrupted or is unable to speak. We are able to send emergency responders to that address immediately to find out what type of help is needed. On the old basic 911 system, the lines had to be traced and that could take nearly two hours in some areas!

Over twenty five percent of our 911 calls are what we refer to as ‘junk’ calls. They are situations were someone mistakenly called 911, kids were playing with the phone and accidentally dialed, equipment problems, or people calling 911 for non emergent purposes like road and weather information, reporting power outages or asking our staff to look up other phone numbers. An ever increasing number of our accidental dials now come from cell phones that are accidentally activated when they are bumped.

Cell phone users must be aware that 911 calls from a wireless device does not transmit your location. If you are traveling, be sure to pay particular attention to your location in case you should need to call for help. There is no technology available to 911 centers in Oregon at this time that allows us to trace 911 call locations. Be prepared to give the 911 operator the name of the road or highway you are traveling on, the direction you are going and the last mile marker or intersection you passed. Your 911 call is answered by the 911 PSAP closes to the Cell Tower your telephone hits. It is not uncommon for a cell call in Coquille to be answered by the PSAP in Coos Bay, and vice versa. Our center frequently received calls from Winchester Bay in Douglas County, and calls from the Boulder Creek Wilderness up near Crater Lake! Your 911 call taker will ask questions in order to determine your location and then transfer you to the appropriate PSAP.

All telecommunicators in Oregon must receive specialized training in order to get their certification. The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training is the agency that supervises the training and issues the certification. A dispatcher must be 18 years of age, with no criminal background. The state requires two weeks of Basic Telecommunicator training at the Police Academy in Monmouth, and an additional three days of training to also function as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher. In order to recertify each year we must receive an additional sixteen hours of training.

In addition to the State mandated training, our staff goes through an in house Field Training Program. Each new member is assigned to a Coach for between four and six months while they learn our equipment and procedures. It is a very challenging training period, and it takes a very special candidate to complete it successfully.

Bandit is our mascot. He was a 911 rescue. In 1996 we received a 911 call reporting a vicious dog tied up near an old school yard where children were playing. A Deputy was sent to attempt to contain the aggressive animal and protect the kids. When the officer arrived, he found a pretty little malamute pup, about three months old. He wasn’t mean, he was just ‘talking’ in his funny little voice trying to get someone to come play with him! He stayed with the dispatchers for a few months, but as he grew bigger (and bigger) it wasn’t appropriate to have him living full time in the Courthouse. So now he lives with one of the supervisors and her other dogs, and gets to come in and visit his other people.